Two men arrested on burglary charges in rural Olmsted County

(ABC 6 News) — Two men were arrested early Monday morning after authorities said they were caught trying to steal lumber from a shed in rural Olmsted County.

According to the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, a 43-year-old man called 911 around 3:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 13. The man said we saw some car lights at a shed he owns on the 9900 block of County Road 3 in Rock Dell Township.

When he got there, the man said there were two trucks parked near the shed, and the garage door to the shed was open. The man said he always keeps the door closed and locked.

When the man pulled up, he said he saw one of the suspects get into one of the trucks, flash a handgun, and drive off. The shed owner followed the truck onto County Road 3. As he was following the truck, he told authorties that the other truck pulled up and started driving alongside him, and then eventually cut him off and made contact with his front bumper. At that point, the shed owner was on the phone with 911 and stopped following the suspects.

The man believes the men were trying to steal lumber from his shed. He says the men had a large, flat bed truck and some tow straps.

Around that same time of day, another 911 call came in from a 24-year-old woman on the 9300 block of County Road 126 SW. The woman told police there was an unknown man in her driveway. When she confronted him, she said the man said his name was "Shawn" and that he was "waiting for his friend." Then, a second truck pulled up alongside her house. The woman didn’t know the man and called police. The name Shawn matched the ownership of one of the trucks seen at the other burglary in Rock Dell Township.

A State Trooper got to the house first, and when an Olmsted County Sheriff’s Deputy got there, the deputy arrested Shawn, but the other man along with the second truck were gone.

The Minnesota State Patrol, the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office, the Kasson Police Department, and the Rochester Police Department all joined in a search for the second suspect. A KPD officer had a K9 with and was getting ready to start tracking the man. As the officer started making announcements about the K9, authorities said the second suspect yelled out from the woods and cooperated. He was also arrested.

Authorities identified the suspects as 36-year-old Shawn Clement from Dodge Center and 58-year-old Michael Pies of Minneapolis. They are in the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center and are facing charges of 3rd-degree burglary and 2nd-degree assault with a weapon.

For information on crime happening in your neighborhood, click on Spot Crime.